Everyone is speculating about how “Google Apps for Your Domain” is a prelude to some version of a “Google Office” suite. That talk has been persistent since Google announced an alliance with Sun, bought Writely and launched spreadsheets. And Google probably will back into some Office-like productivity suite eventually.
But this new announcement is really about small business. Here’s why I think so:
- The apps here (Talk, GMail, Calendar and PageCreator) are not going to be of interest in large enterprises. IT directors/managers have repeatedly stressed their concerns about Google-hosted apps and privacy/security
- They will be potentially interesting to small businesses who can use these tools
- There’s little or no cost to Google to bundle and offer this as a value-added package and create a new channel into the SME market (as part of a diversified strategy to gain SME advertisers)
Beyond small businesses, this bundle also has a general user dimension in promoting Google Talk, Calendar and PageCreator, which haven’t yet seen much adoption. While GMail has seen somewhat more, it’s still way behind Yahoo!, AOL and Microsoft’s email usage.
This ultimately is about establishing a relationship with a small business at little cost to Google, which may turn into an advertiser/AdWords relationship down the line.
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Here’s the WSJ article (sub. req’d)
